The present application is based on Japanese Patent Applications No. 2000-243907 and No. 2000-260710 which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an assist grip to be swingably attached to a ceiling panel of a vehicle, and more particularly to an assist grip capable of reducing an assembly man-hour.
Further, the present invention relates to an assist grip to be swingably attached to a ceiling panel of a vehicle, and more particularly to an assist grip which is suitable for a vehicle having a curtain shield air bag.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to support an occupant""s body of a vehicle, an assist grip is provided in the vicinity of the upper part of a side window over a ceiling panel of a passenger car. The assist grip generally comprises an U-shaped grip body and a-mounting seat provided on both ends of the grip body, and the mounting seat is fixed to the vehicle body through the ceiling panel and is thus used. In recent years, moreover, the grip body is rotatably supported on the mounting seat. According to such an assist grip, the grip body can be stored along the ceiling panel during nonuse and can be prevented from being protruded toward a vehicle compartment. Therefore, an appearance in the vehicle compartment can be enhanced and the vehicle compartment can be used widely.
Further, there is also provided a shock absorbing member for absorbing a shock by deformation when a human body collides with the assist grip by great force. The shock absorbing member is formed of an almost cylindrical metallic member and is fixed to the vehicle body through welding. The mounting seat of the assist grip is fixed to the shock absorbing member through bolt fastening so that a shock acting on the assist grip can be absorbed.
However, when the conventional assist grip is to be fixed to the vehicle body, the shock absorbing member is to be first fixed to the vehicle body in advance and the mounting seat is to be fixed to the shock absorbing member through the bolt fastening. For this reason, an automobile assembling line requires two works of a step of welding the shock absorbing member and a step of assembling the assist grip. Moreover, the number of parts is large and a device and a space for carrying out a welding work are required. Thus, a man-hour is increased.
In the assist grip in which the grip body is rotatably supported on the mounting seat, moreover, a spring is provided on a pivotal shaft and the grip body is energized in a direction of the ceiling panel through the spring in many cases. Consequently, the grip body can be always positioned along the ceiling panel during nonuse.
Further, in many cases, the assist grip includes a damper for preventing the grip body from being quickly swung by the energizing force of the spring and colliding with the ceiling panel and suppressing the generation of a collision sound.
In the case in which the assist grip thus energized by the spring is to be fixed to the vehicle body, however, the grip body is an obstacle during the bolt fastening. Therefore, it is necessary to fasten a bolt with the grip body swung and held against the energizing force of the spring. On other words, the grip body is to be swung and held by one of operator""s hands and the bolt is to be fastened by the other hand. Therefore, there is a problem in that the assembling work is carried out with difficulty in a small working space such as a vehicle compartment.
The spring and the damper are generally provided in the vicinity of a pivotal support shaft of the mounting seat. In that case, however, the spring and the damper are provided so that the size of the mounting seat is increased. Consequently, the assist grip has a comparatively large size, which is not preferable in respect of a design or an appearance in a vehicle compartment.
It is proposed that a bridge portion formed of a synthetic resin for coupling the mounting seats on both ends is provided and the spring and the damper are accommodated in the bridge portion. Consequently, the size of the mounting seat can be reduced and the bridge portion to be newly added has a comparative small volume. Therefore, the design can be improved and the appearance in the vehicle compartment can also be enhanced. Moreover, the stability of an operation can also be enhanced.
In recent years, some automobiles have a curtain shield air bag provided in the upper part of a side window in order to enhance safety during a side collision. However, in the case in which the curtain shield air bag expands into the vehicle compartment, a stress also acts on the assist grip. In the assist grip having the bridge portion, therefore, it is particularly necessary to take a countermeasure against the air bag in the bridge portion. In other words, it is necessary to prevent the bridge portion from being broken by the stress and to prevent fragments from being scattered.
Accordingly, it is preferable that the bridge portion should be formed of a metal. If the bridge portion is formed of a metal, the stress applied from the air bag is absorbed by the deformation of the bridge portion. Therefore, the bridge portion is not broken and fragments are not scattered.
On the other hands since the bridge portion is exposed into the vehicle compartment, the bridge portion formed of a metal is not preferable for the design. It is proposed that the bridge portion is covered with a cover having a design surface. In the case in which the cover is to be thus put, it is usually formed to have an U-shaped section and is generally provided to cover the bridge portion such that the open side is opposed to the ceiling panel and a bottom portion thereof is exposed to the vehicle compartment side. In this case, however, a shock applied from the air bag acts on the cover from the open side. Therefore, force in a direction of removal from the bridge portion acts on the cover. Accordingly, it is necessary to firmly fix the cover to the bridge portion in order to reliably prevent the cover from being separated from the bridge portion.
However, the bond of the cover and the bridge portion increases a man-hour and deteriorates maintenance. Therefore, it is desirable that the bridge portion should be covered with the cover through only mechanical engagement. In consideration of an assembling workability, moreover, it is desirable that the cover should be assembled easily into the bridge portion.
The invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances and has an object to provide an assist grip which can decrease the number of parts, does not require a step of welding a shock absorbing member and can reduce an assembly man-hour.
In addition, the invention has an object to provide such a structure that a cover is not separated from a bridge portion even if a shock is applied from an air bag and the cover can easily be assembled into the bridge portion in an assist grip having the bridge portion.
In order to solve the problems described above, the invention provides an assist grip comprising a grip body and a shock absorbing portion swingably supported on at least one of ends of the grip body, the shock absorbing portion being fixed to a vehicle body, wherein the mounting seat is constituted by a pivotal support portion rotatably supported on the grip body and a buckling portion which is extended integrally from the pivotal support portion and is deformed by a shock, thereby absorbing the shock, the shock absorbing portion being fixed to the vehicle body.
It is desirable that one of ends of a cap for covering the shock absorbing portion should be pivotally supported on the shock absorbing portion and the other end of the cap should be provided with an engagement portion for swinging the shock absorbing portion to expose the shock absorbing portion and for swinging the cap in the same state to be engaged with the grip body, thereby controlling the swinging motion of the shock absorbing portion in such a direction as to approach the grip body.
In an assist grip according to the invention, a shock absorbing portion has a pivotal support portion rotatably supported pivotally on a grip body and a buckling portion which is extended integrally from the pivotal support portion and is deformed by a shock, thereby absorbing the shock, and the shock absorbing portion is fixed to a vehicle body. In other words, the shock absorbing portion also serves as the mounting seat. Accordingly, it is not necessary to previously provide the shock absorbing member on the vehicle body, the shock absorbing member does not need to be welded and the number of parts is decreased. Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce a man-hour in an assembling step of an automobile.
Although the shock absorbing portion can be formed of various materials if it has such a strength as to be resistant to normal use, it should have such a strength as to be resistant to bolt fastening. Therefore, it is desirable that the shock absorbing portion should be formed of a metal. Moreover, it is particularly preferable that the shock absorbing member should be formed of a metal because it is not broken during expansion of a curtain shield air bag.
The mounting seat is swingably supported on at least one of ends of a grip body. It is preferable that the mounting seat should be provided on both ends of the grip body. In the case in which the mounting seat is provided on both ends of the grip body, the pivotal support portion of the mounting seat may be individually provided on the respective mounting seats or one pivotal support portion can also support both mounting seats swingably and pivotally. The pivotal support portion can be formed of various materials which are resistant to a stress during use. However, in some cases in which one pivotal support portion formed of a synthetic resin swingably and pivotally supports both mounting seats like a bridge, it is broken at the time of expansion of a curtain shield air bag. Therefore, it is desirable that the pivotal support portion should also be formed of a metal. If the pivotal support portion is formed of a metal, it can absorb a shock applied from the air bag by its own deformation. Therefore, there is no possibility that the pivotal support portion might be broken.
In an assist grip in which a grip body is rotatably supported on a mounting seat, a shock absorbing portion is visually recognized when the grip body is swung. Therefore, there is a problem in that an appearance is poor. For this reason, it is desirable that the mounting seat should be provided with a cap for covering the shock absorbing portion. The cap can engage another member with the mounting seat to be held and can also be supported pivotally on the pivotal support portion so as to be swingable.
In addition, according to the invention, the cap is provided between the grip body and the mounting seat, thereby controlling the swinging motion of the grip body in such a direction as to approach the mounting seat by the energizing force of the spring. More specifically, one of ends of the cap is pivotally supported on the mounting seat and the cap is swung in such a state that the mounting seat is swung to expose the shock absorbing portion. Thus, the other end of the cap is engaged with the grip body. Consequently, since the swinging motion of the grip body is controlled by the cap, the shock absorbing portion maintains the state of exposure so that the fixation can easily be carried out with a bolt.
In order to cause the end of the cap to be engaged with the grip body, an engagement portion may be provided on the grip body or a concave portion for accommodating the cap of the grip body can also be engaged with the tip of the cap. In the latter case, it might be necessary to deform the cap. In this case, it is desirable that the cap should be formed of a soft synthetic resin such as thermoplastic elastomer or rubber. Consequently, the cap is deformed easily. Therefore, the engagement with the grip body can easily be carried out.
The second aspect of the invention provides an assist grip for an automobile comprising a grip body, a mounting seat swingably supported on both ends of the grip body, a bridge portion formed of a metal which serves to couple the mounting seats provided on both ends, and a cover formed of a synthetic resin which serves to cover the bridge portion,
wherein the cover has an U-shaped section including a first side surface portion having a greater length on a section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction, a second side surface portion which is opposed to the first side surface portion at an interval and has a smaller length on the section than that of the first side surface portion, and a bottom portion for coupling the first side surface portion to the second side surface portion, a plurality of claw portions are protruded inwardly from the first side surface portion and the second side surface portion so as to be inclined toward the bottom portion at an acute angle with respect to a normal respectively, the claw portions are engaged with a plurality of engagement holes provided in the bridge portion and are held and fixed thereto respectively, and the cover is fixed to the bridge portion such that an opening faces opposite to a vehicle compartment.
In the above assist grip, it is desirable that the claw portion provided in the first side surface portion should have a greater length than that of the claw portion provided in the second side surface portion. Moreover, it is desirable that a part of the cover should be provided with a small diameter portion having a smaller whole length on a section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction than a whole length on sections of the first side surface portion, the bottom portion and the second side surface portion.
In an assist grip according to the invention, a plurality of claw portions are protruded inwardly from a first side surface portion and a second side surface portion in a cover so as to be inclined toward a bottom portion at an acute angle with respect to a normal and are engaged with a plurality of engagement holes provided on a bridge portion respectively, and the cover is held and fixed into the bridge portion such that an opening faces opposite to a vehicle compartment. On the other hand, a direction of a stress applied when a curtain shield air bag expands is equivalent to a direction from a ceiling panel toward the vehicle compartment, that is, a direction from the opening of the cover to the inside of the cover. Accordingly, the direction of the stress is set to be a direction in which the claw portion is engaged with the engagement hole more deeply. Therefore, the cover can be prevented from slipping off from the bridge portion.
Moreover, the cover has an U-shaped section including a first side surface portion having a greater length on a section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction, a second side surface portion which is opposed to the first side surface portion at an interval and has a smaller length on the section than that of the first side surface portion, and a bottom portion for coupling the first side surface portion to the second side surface portion. Accordingly, when the cover is to be fixed to the bridge portion, the claw portion of the first side surface portion is first engaged with the engagement hole of the bridge portion. Since the first side surface portion has the greater length on the section, the principle of a lever acts so that the claw portion can easily be engaged with the engagement hole of the bridge portion and can readily be deformed elastically to open the opening of the cover. Accordingly, it is possible to turn the second side surface portion around the bridge portion and to engage the claw portion of the second side surface portion with the engagement hole while elastically deforming the claw portion to open the opening of the cover in such a state that the claw portion is engaged with the engagement hole. Thus, the cover can easily be fixed to the bridge portion.
At this time, if the claw portion provided on the first side surface portion is set to be longer than the claw portion of the second side surface portion, the claw portion itself of the first side surface portion engaged with the engagement hole is easily deformed elastically and the amount of the deformation is increased. Therefore, the claw portion of the second side surface portion can be engaged with the engagement hole more easily. Moreover, as the claw portion of the second side surface portion is shorter, it can be engaged with the engagement hole more easily. It is desirable that the claw portion should have such a minimum length as not to slip off due to a stress applied from an air bag.
Moreover, while the whole cover is constituted as described above, it is desirable that a part of the cover should be provided with a small diameter portion having a whole length on a section perpendicular to a longitudinal direction which is smaller than a whole length on sections of the first side surface portion, the bottom portion and the second side surface portion. The small diameter portion more increases a rigidity so that the cover slips off from the bridge portion with more difficulty. Moreover, if the small diameter portion forms a part, the residual portion is fixed to the bridge portion so that the claw portion of the small diameter portion can also be engaged with the engagement hole easily with the assistance of the rigidity of the cover. Accordingly, it is desirable that the small diameter portion should be formed in a central part where the assistance of the rigidity can be received easily.
The cover can be formed of a synthetic resin through molding. In order to easily carry out the deformation, it is desirable that the cover should be formed of a soft synthetic resin such as thermoplastic elastomer. The bridge portion is formed of a metal and couples mounting seats to each other. The shape is not particularly restricted. Moreover, it is also preferable that a shock absorbing portion for absorbing a shock energy through buckling when a great shock acts should be formed integrally with the bridge portion. The bridge portion can be provided with a spring for energizing a grip body and a damper for controlling the swinging speed of the grip body.